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0.  W.  GREEN,  Secretary, 
Jackson,  Tenn. 


Earning  anb  ^Cabor, 

LIBRARY 

« OF  TH  E 

University  of  Illinois. 

CLASS.  BOOK.  VOLUME. 

L2>C>  M.tV  


Accession  No, 


ADDRESS  BEFORE  THE 

NATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  CONGRESS, 

AT  ITS  MEETING  IN  ST.  LOUIS,  MAY,  1872. 

By  M.  F.  MAURY,  LULL 

Last  October,  before  the  Agricultural  and  Mechanical  Society  of  Rockbridge 
County,  Virginia,  and  of  Shelby  County,  Tennessee,  I explained  the  objects  of  an  in- 
ternational conference  to  be  held  among  the  leading  agriculturalists  and  meteorologists 
of  different  countries.  I pointed  out  several  of  the  many  vast  benefits  likely  to  flow 
from  earnest  co-operation  between  those  engaged  in  these  two  branches — the  one  of  in- 
dustry, the  other  of  science — and  showed  that  progress  and  improvement  here  (more 
than  elsewhere)  touch  the  prosperity  of  nations  and  the  welfare  of  the  whole  human 
family.  As  an  argument  in  favor  of  that  object,  I refer  to  that  address. 

PREDICTING  THE  SEASONS. 

“ Man  is  by  nature  a meteorologist ; ” and  what  are  his  crops  but  the  resultants 
of  meteorological  laws  and  influences  that  have  acted  upon  them  during  their  growth  ? 
Now,  seeing  the  great  increase  of  knowledge  gained  within  the  last  eighteen  or  twenty 
years  as  to  the  working  of  the  atmospherical  machinery  of  our  planet,  and  of  the  agents 
that  control  the  weather ; and  bearing  in  mind  that  this  increase  is  in  no  small  degree 
due  to  the  impulse  which  the  maritime  conference  at  Brussels  gave  to  meteorological 
research,  who  shall  say  that  the  coming  meteorologist  may  not,  under  this  system, 
be  enabled  to  forecast  the  weather  and  the  seasons  for  the  farmer  as  well  as  the  storm 
and  tempest  for  the  mariner  ? 

Only  conceive  the  means  and  facilities  and  appliances  this  plan  will  afford  him. 
He  will  have  co-operators  on  the  land  as  well  as  on  the  sea,  all  observing,  at  fixed 
hours,  with  standard  instruments,  after  the  same  method,  each  one  repotting  his  ob- 
servations for  discussion  to  the  principal  office  in  his  own  country,  and  each  principal 
office  communicating  by  telegraph  to  all  the  others,  the  results  obtained,  and  each  gov- 
ernment disseminating  them  over  its  own  domains,  by  telegraph,  press,  and  mail. 

TOO  BIG  FOR  ANY  NATION  TO  UNDERTAKE  ALONE. 

Gentlemen,  this  is  a vast  subject ; it  is  world- wide  in  its  bearings.  It  is  the  grand 
est  scheme,  for  it  opens  the  widest  field  for  physical  research  and  the  encouragement 
of  industry,  that  philosophers  have  ever  been  invited  to  enter.  No  nation  can  occupy 
it  alone,  or  gather  with  its  own  laborers  a tithe  of  the  harvest  that  is  there  waiting  for  the 
sickle,  and  looking  as  invitingly  to  the  philosopher  as  fields  of  yellow  corn  ever  did  to 
the  reaper. 

THOSE  THAT  ARE  ALREADY  IN  A CONDITION  TO  CO-OPERATE. 

Japan,. India,  China,  and  Turkey,  with  all  the  States  of  Christendom,  have  already 
within  their  borders  the  steamboat,  the  railway,  and  the  telegraph.  Nearly  all  of  them 
have  also  their  system  of  meteorological  observations  and  crop  reports — this  is  the  very 
machinery  that  this  proposition  requires.  We  now  want  to  gear  it  together;  and  to 
do  that,  it  is  only  necessary  for  the  general  government  to  step  forward  with  its  friendly 
offices,  issue  its  invitations,  and  prevail  upon  other  nations  to  unite  with  this  country, 
and  assist  in  carrying  the  plan  into  effect. 

An  immense  corps  of  observers  is  already  at  work  in  this  field,  both  ashore 
and  afloat,  and  to  bring  them  into  co-operation  and  utilize  their  labors,  all  that  is  neces- 
sary is  not  money,  but  simply  an  appeal  from  the  right  quarter,  asking  them  to  unite 
with  us  in  such  plan  as  may  be  agreed  upon  in  common  council.  The  results  are  to 
be  beneficial  alike  to  all. 

THE  ATMOSPHERICAL  MACHINERY — HOW  KEPT  IN  MOTION. 

Did  it  ever  occur  to  you  to  think  of  the  atmosphere  as  a great  ocean,  that  covers  sea 
and  land  to  the  depths  of  many  miles  ? — That  we  creep  and  crawl  along  at  the  bottom 
of  this  ocean,  where  reside  all  those  agents'  whose  operations  and  effects  upon  the 
weather  and  the  crops,  upon  man  and  his  industries,  it  is  the  object  of  this  plan  to  trace  ? 

Now,  to  trace  these  operations,  and  to  comprehend  the  workings  of  such  a grand 
machine  as  the  atmospherical  ocean  is,  we  must  have  persons  here  and  there,  and 
everywhere — on  land  and  sea — observing  and  watching,  all  in  the  same  way,  its 
movements,  behavior,  and  phenomena.  The  ships  of  commerce,  and  of  war,  that, 
under  various  flags,  are  constantly  afloat,  afford,  without  any  additional  cost  whatever, 
all  the  observers  that  the  plan  requires  for  the  sea. 

All  knowledge  is  profitable;  but  practically,  how  vastly  more  important  to  the 
every-day  affairs  of  life,  and  especially  to  agriculture,  is  a knowledge  of  what  is  going 
on,  in  a physical  way,  at  tli'e  bottom  of  our  aerial  ocean,  than  what  is  going  on  at  the 
bottom  of  the  aqueous.  Still.  I can  state  a fact  which  should  stir  you  up  to  action,  and 
that  it  may  do  so,  I call  attention,  with  pride,  and  for  glorification,  to  a spectacle  that  may 

A- 


2 


now  be  witnessed  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic  : — There  the  greatest  maritime  pow- 
er the  world  ever  saw  is  in  homage  to  science — turning  her  men-of-war  into  floating 
observatories.  She  is  now  fitting  out  a superb  frigate  for  a four  years’  cruise  around 
the  world.  This  ship  is  to  have  on  board,  as  part  of  her  complement,  some  of  the  most 
famous  men  of  science  in  England.  The  main  object  of  this  expedition  is  to  increase 
our  knowledge  concerning  the  “ physical  geography  of  the  sea,”  and  to  find  out  what  is 
going  on  at  the  bottom  of  the  deep  sea.  As  praiseworthy  as  this  is,  and  noble  too,  how 
it  dwindles,  as  to  importance,  in  comparison  with  this  proposition  to  investigate  the  bot- 
tom of  the  high  atmosphere.  Consider  only  a moment  the  nature  of  the  problem  I am 
propounding,  first  in  its  meteorological  aspects,  and  by  the  light  of  these  facts,  viz. : 

(1.)  Every  movement  that  takes  place  in  the  atmosphere,  from  the  zephyr  to  the 
tornado,  is  traceable  to  the  sun.  He  it  is  that  pumps  up  from  the  sea  the  water  for 
your  mighty  Mississippi  river,  transports  it  through  the  air,  and  showers  it  down  upon 
your  glad  hills  and  smiling  valleys.  (2.)  The  quantity  of  heat  annually  dispensed  by 
him  to  the  earth  is  a constant.  (3.)  The  dimensions  of  the  ocean  are  permanent.  (4.)  The 
volume  of  water  annually  taken  up  from  it  as  vapor  and  let  down  again  as  rain,  hail, 
snow,  and  dew  is  also  a constant.  (5.)  But  the  quantity  of  it,  that  is  dispensed  to  you, 
year  by  year,  is  variable.  Now  when  we  come  to  discover — as  this  system  of  research 
will  surely  enable  us  to  do — in  what  parts  of  the  world  this  precipitation  is  going  on  in 
excess,  and  in  what  parts  in  deficiency,  who  shall  say  that  we  may  not  be  able  to  fore- 
cast the  seasons,  and  to  tell  the  farmer  in  time  for  him  to  profit  by  the  information, 
when  to  expect  a drouth,  when  a wet  season  ; whether  the  next  winter  is  to  be  mild  or 
severe  ; whether  it  is  to  be  such  as  to  favor  abundant  harvests  or  short  crops? 

OTHER  INDUSTRIES  ALSO  CONCERNED  IN  THE  PLAN. 

Then  consider  the  problem  in  some  other  of  its  industrial  and  agricultural  aspects. 
I say  industrial  as  well  as  agricultural,  for  I know  of  no  occupation,  whether  it  be  in 
the  field,  in  the  forest,  or  the  factory,  whether  it  be  with  tillage  or  pasturage,  in  the 
mine,  the  mill,  or  on  the  sea,  that  does  not  depend,  in  a greater  or  less  degree,  for  its 
prosperity  upon  the  seasons  and  the  weather,  and  in  such  a manner  that  foreknowledge 
would,  many  a time,  prevent  losses  and  oftentimes  make  gains. 

Of  what  practical  use  is  it,  let  me  ask  you,  to  know  that  your  neighbor’s  crops  are 
flourishing,  or  that  there  is  a short  harvest  in  one  of  the  adjoining  States  ? The  price 
of  grain  in  the  great  food  markets  of  the  country — as  this  city,  Chicago,  and  New  York — 
is  not  regulated  by  the  wheat  harvest  only  in  Ohio  or  Pennsylvania.  It  is  rather  reg- 
ulated b\  the  price  of  grain  in  England,  which  in  turn  is  regulated  by  the  harvest-yield 
in  all  countries  whence  England  and  Europe  derive  their  food  supplies.  Now,  this 
plan  aims  by  simple  and  inexpensive  means  to  keep  every  farmer  in  the  land  posted  up 
with  the  promise  as  well  as  the  yield  of  the  crops  in  all  countries,  in  the  basin  of  the 
Black  Sea  as  well  as  in  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi. 

ADVANTAGES  TO  BE  GAINED. 

To  show  the  advantages  of  such  knowledge  is  like  attempting  to  prove  a self-evi- 
dent proposition.  But  that  you  may  be  able  to  appreciate  them,  at  least  in  part,  let  us 
look  into  the  past  a little  way,  and  see  what  the  farmer  has  gained  as  he  has  ranged  up 
alongside  of  the  merchant,  in  knowledge,  even  as  to  prices  alone. 

Many  here  present  can  remember  (for  it  was  only  about  fifty  years  ago)  when  their 
way  to  market  was  in  “ broad  horns  ” and  keel  boats  down  the  Mississippi  to  New 
Orleans,  and  how,  when  they  shipped  their  crop  to  market,  they  had  no  idea  as  to  the 
price  they  were  to  get  for  it.  After  that  the  steamboat  came,  and  then  when  the  farmer 
shipped  his  crop,  though  he  did  not  have  so  much  more  light  as  to  price,  he  was  not 
quite  so  much  in  the  dark,  for  when  a rise  took  place  in  New  Orleans  he  could  be  in  the 
market  there  in  the  course  of  a week  or  ten  days,  instead  of  after  a lapse  of  a month  or 
two.  That  knowledge  was  felt  to  be  a great  gain.  They  can  also  remember  well  when 
there  were  neither  railway,  steamship,  nor  telegraph,  and  when  communication  with 
the  “ old  world  ” was  by  sailing  packets,  with  an  average  passage  of  thirty-two  days 
from  Liverpool ; and  they  remember  also,  when  a rise  there  in  one  of  our  staples  took 
place,  how  agents  and  couriers — riding  day  and  night,  and  outstripping  the  mails — 
used  to  come  among  them,  concealing  all  knowledge  of  the  rise,  and  buying  some- 
times even  at  half-price,  when,  if  you  had  been  on  a footing  with  the  merchants  as  to 
knowledge,  you  would  have  got  double  money  for  your  corn. 

. The  last  achievement  I have  heard  of  in  this  way,  was  a few  years  ago.  It  was 
based  on  the  fall  of  Richmond.  There  was  then  a telegraph  to  Nova  Scotia,  but  none 
thence  across  the  Atlantic.  A party  in  New  York  chartered,  in  anticipation  of  that  dis- 
aster, a swift  steamer,  and  quietly  sent  her  with  private  letters  and  dispatches  to 
Halifax,  where  she  was  to  keep  up  steam,  night  and  day,  and  await  orders.  Finally 
Richmond  fell,  and  thereupon  the  word  “ go  ” flashed  through  the  wires  to  Halifax,  and 
oft’  wrnt  the  swift-footed  steamer.  She  was  ahead  of  all* others,  and  upon  that  word 
“ go”  the  party  is  said  to  have  realized  millions  of  dollars,  and  all  because  one  party 
knew  more  about  the  articles  dealt  in  than  the  other. 


3 


WHAT  STEAM  AND  THE  TELEGRAPH  HAVE  ALREADY  DONE. 

Though  steam  and  the  telegraph  have  done  much  for  the  producer,  by  placing  him 
more  nearly  on  a footing  with  the  buyers  in  knowledge  as  to  supply,  and  by  shielding 
him  from  the  speculator,  they  have  left  much  yet  to  be  done  in  order  to  place  him  and 
the  merchant  on  the  same  platform.  The  English  merchant  especially,  from  the  com- 
manding situation  in  which  the  commercial  eminence  of  his  country  lias  placed  him,  is 
in  a position  to  learn  and  to  know,  far  more  accurately  than  any  farmer  can  estimate, 
the  crop  prospects  for  every  agricultural  staple  that  comes  to  the  realm  in  search  of  a 
market.  His  correspondents  in  this  country — but  not  the  farmers — are,  when  necessary, 
posted  up  by  daily  telegrams  with  this  information.  And  in  whose  interests  is  it  used? 
Is  it  in  the  interest  of  the  producer  and  the  seller,  or  of  the  buyer  and  the  merchant  ? 
Clearly  not  in  your  interest.  This  system  will  keep  you  all  posted  up  much  better  than 
any  merchant  now  is. 

WHAT  THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONFERENCE  WILL  DO. 

Only  give  us  this  conference  and  this  plan.  It  will  make  the  source  of  information 
for  the  farmer  the  same  that  it  is  for  the  merchant,  and  make  even  the  farmer  who  is 
living  in  the  log  cabin  of  the  far  West  just  as  well  acquainted  as  are  the  brokers  on 
the  corn  exchange  in  London,  with  the  promise,  yield,  and  prices  in  all  countries  which 
compete  with  him  in  the  market.  This  information  will  be  full,  fair,  and  impartial,  and 
not  in  the  interest  of  the  buyer  more  than  the  seller,  and  will  be  far  more  reliable  and 
complete  than  either  party  now  has. 

To  lift  you  up  from  under  the  heels  of  the  speculator,  and  to  place  merchant,  pro- 
ducer and  consumer,  planter  and  factor,  side  by  side  in  this  knowledge,  is  surely  a noble 
aim.  The  results  for  good  and  the  outflowing  benefits  are  beyond  the  powers  of  pounds 
sterling  or  golden  eagles  to  express.  It  will  confer  a boon  upon  agriculture  not  to 

BE  EXCEEDED  IN  VALUE  BY  THE  CONGRESSIONAL  LAND  GRANTS. 

There  is  no  one  who  appreciates  more  highly  than  I do  the  advantages  of  agricul- 
tural education,  or  who,  confining  his  expectations  within  the  limits  of  reason,  antici- 
pates from  those  magnificent  land  grants  of  Congress  for  agricultural  and  mechanical 
schools  and  colleges  greater  good  to  the  farming  interests  than  I do.  But  let  that  good 
be  whatever  it  may,  it  is  not  to  outtop  the  good  that  is  to  flow  from  this  joint  system  of 
crop  reports  and  meteorological  research. 

RECEIVED  WITH  FAVOR. 

The  progress  made  with  the  proposition  both  in  this  country  and  abroad  is,  so  far, 
very  encouraging.  In  all  great  moves  like  this,  first  the  people  and  then  their  govern- 
ment have  to  be  educated  up  to  it.  It  was  not  until  the  middle  of  October  last  that 
this  “ball”  was  put  in  motion.  Then  the  agricultural  and  mechanical  societies  in  most 
parts  of  the  country  had  held  their  annual  fairs,  and  adjourned  over  to  next  fall.  It 
was  too  late,  therefore,  to  bring  the  subject  up  before  them.  Nevertheless,  it  has*  been 
received  with  favor  everywhere,  both  in  Europe  and  this  country,  wherever  it  has  been 
fairly  presented  and  properly  understood. 

The  Scottish  Meteorological  Society,  which  itself  is  most  active  and  which  has  for 
its  secretary  Alexander  Buchan — the  most  eminent  meteorologist  in  Great  Britain — has 
signified  its  readiness,  as  soon  as  we  say  the  word,  to  move  in  the  matter  there,  and  to 
put  itself  in  communication  with  the  meteorological  and  agricultural  societies  of  the 
realm,  with  the  view,  when  the  invitation  comes  from  Washington,  of  bringing  a pres- 
sure (if  need  be)  upon  the  English  government  in  favor  of  acceptance. 

Commodore  Jansen — the  foremost  man  in  Holland — is  our  advocate  there. 

In  Belgium,  we  have  in  our  favor,  with  his  large  influence,  the  excellent  Quete- 
let,  Astronomer  Royal  of  the  Kingdom  and  perpetual  secretary  of  the  Academy  of 
Sciences  in  Brussels.  He  has  taken  the  lead,  and  done  more  than  any  man  living  for 
vegetable  climatology,  and  is  therefore  eminently  qualified  to  appreciate  this  move. 
He  was  president  of  the  Brussels  Conference  of  ’53,  and  went  with  us  then  in  favor  of  a 
j9<m-national  system  of  meteorological  observations  and  research  for  the  land  as  well  as 
the  sea.  The  King  of  the  Belgians  and  his  Minister  have  had  their  attention  called  to 
the  subject.  They  both  express  a lively  interest  in  it. 

The  last  mail  from  France  brings  encouragement  from  Marie  Davy,  the  meteorologist 
and  savant.  He,  with  Zurcher  and  Margolle — themselves,  also,  men  of  eminence,  and 
the  friends  of  all  true  progress  in  science  and  industry — are  “ rolling  this  ball  along” 
there  like  good  fellows.  They  are  bringing  it  to  notice  in  proper  quarters,  and  trans- 
lating the  Memphis  address  for  the  Agricultural  Society  of  France.  Le  Messager  de 
Paris,  an  influential  journal  in  that  country,  conies  out  most  earnestly  in  support  of 
the  plan. 

Father  Secchi,  of  the  Collegio  Romano,  one  of  the  greatest  physicists  of  the  age,  is 
ready  to  co-operate  with  us.  I have  not  heard  from  him,  but  I know  the  man,  and  can 
tell  exactly  where  he  is  to  be  found  in  such  a cause  as  this. 


4 


Russia,  too — she  owns  one-seventh  of  all  the  land  in  the  World.  She  is  renowned  for 
the  encouragement  which,  through  her  Kuppffer  and  others,  she  has  bestowed  upon 
meteorological  observations  and  research.  She  has  her  empire  already  dotted  with 
stations.  She,  through  her  enlightened  prince,  scientist,  and  statesmen,  the  Grand  Duke 
Constantine,  did  much  to  encourage  the  system  of  research  at  sea,  as  matured  in  the 
Brussels  Conference  of  1853,  and  such  was  his  interest  in  the  matter,  that  at  the  break- 
ing out  of  the  war  in  1861,  he  made  princely  offers  and  invited  me  to  the  banks  of  the 
Neva,  there,  as  the  guest  of  the  nation,  to  continue  those  physical  researches  (which 
had  been  so  rudely  broken  up  at  Washington)  at  the  charge  of  the  empire. 

In  all  good  works,  no  nation  is  more  ready  to  join  than  Russia,  and  I count  upon 
Russia  in  this. 

Portugal,  Denmark,  England,  France,  Belgium  and  Holland,  with  Sweden  and 
Norway,  were  all  with  her  at  Brussels,  in  the  persons  of  their  men  of  science.  Spain, 
Austria,  Prussia,  Italy  and  the  Holy  See,  the  Senate  of  Bremen,  with  India,  Brazil,  and 
South  America  joined  in  as  helpers  and  co-operators.  Nor  were  Turkey  and  Siam  in- 
different. And  I think,  gentlemen,  that  I may  go  so  far  as  to  say  that  when  you,  for 
and  on  behalf  of  the  agriculturists  of  America,  are  prepared  to  do  your  duty  in  this 
matter,  you  will  find  all  these  great  men,  wise  statesmen,  enlightened  princes,  and 
powerful  nations  at  your  back. 

PROGRESS  ALREADY  MADE. 

This  congress  was  among  the  first  in  this  country  to  catch  at  this  “ ball,”  and  it 
may,  I think,  reflect  with  both  pride  and  satisfaction  upon  the  fact. 

The  Legislatures  of  a number  of  States,  among  them  Tennessee,  Alabama,  Missis- 
sippi, Missouri,  North  Carolina,  and  Virginia,  have  passed  resolutions  instructing  their 
Senators  and  requesting  their  representatives  in  Congress  to  go  for  the  Conference. 
Two  States,  not  satisfied  with  instructing  their  Congressmen,  have  gone  farther,  and 
actually  adopted  the  plan  (as  far  as  they  can)  by  providing  for  a system  of  crop  reports 
within  their  own  borders. 

Various  agricultural  societies  have  passed  resolutions  in  its  favor,  or  recommended 
it  to  Congress. 

Last  February  there  was  a meeting  in  Washington  of  representatives  from  the 
agricultural  societies  and  colleges  of  the  whole  country.  There  were  present  at  it  dele- 
gates from  all  except  two  or  three  States  of  the  Union.  I am  told  they  gave  the  plan 
their  hearty  approval. 

Since  then  a Senator,  who  has  been  instructed  by  his  State,  has  had  a conversation 
with  the  Secretary  of  State  upon  the  subject,  to  know  whether  he  would  go  with  us 
and  issue  invitations  to  other  powers  to  meet  an  agriculturist  and  a scientist  from  this 
country  in  conference,  where  the  details  of  the  system  might  be  arranged  in  a manner 
satisfactory  to  all.  But  the  honorable  Secretary  has  not  yet  been  educated  up  to  this 
point ; he  threw  cold  water  upon  the  plan  and  referred  us  to  Congress. 

The  Commissioner  of  Agriculture  was  also  called  on.  He  pointedly  refused  to  have 
anything  to  do  with  the  matter,  and,  as  if  to  let  us  know  how  far  he  is  behind  the 
times,  stated  that  he  had  just  ordered  the  meteorological  reports  of  his  bureau  to  be 
discontinued. 

This  plan  is  not  like  an  untried  experiment.  The  Brussels  conference,  though  it 
traversed  but  a part  of  the  field — and  by  no  means  the  most  promising  part — has  led  to 
results  which,  besides  increase  of  knowledge,  have  had  the  industrial  effect  of  so 
shortening  sea  voyages,  that,  in  this  alone,  there  has  been  a gain  annually  for  the  world’s 
commerce  of  millions — not  of  dollars — but  of  pounds  sterling. 

But,  even  in  this  refusal  by  high  officials,  we  have  gained  a point,  and  therefore 
made  progress — for  by  it  we  know  who  “ are  not  for  us.”  The  administration  has  been 
treated  with  consideration,  and  the  Secretary  of  State  with  the  respect  and  deference 
due  his  high  place.  He  shrugs  his  shoulders  and  motions  us  to  Congress,  and  to 
Congress  let  us  go ; not  timidly,  but  boldly  ; not  in  the  feeble-  accents  of  suppliants,  but 
with  the  majestic  voice  and  loud  tones  of  yeomen,  demanding  their  rights  and  insisting 
to  be  heard  in  a just  and  wise,  and  a great  and  good  cause — (applause). 

THE  INDUSTRIAL  INTERESTS  APPEALED  TO. 

The  yeomen  of  the  land  can  do  this ; for  now,  for  the  first  time  in  our  history,  they 
find  that  they  can  give  utterance  to  their  wishes,  and  speak  through  their  own  organs 
to  the  lawgivers. 

This  the  National  Agricultural  Congress  of  the  United  States  is  here  to  enable 
them  to  do.  Its  aim  is  to  represent  and  advocate  the  agricultural  interest  of  the  land — 
not  by  counties,  nor  by  States,  nor  by  sections — but  for  the  whole  country.  Such  being 
its  objects  and  aims,  there  is  no  subject  to  be  brought  before  it  that  is  more  deserving 
of-  its  attention  than  this ; none  whose  success  will  crown  it  with  such  honors  and 
renown,  and  none  more  worthy  of  the  aid  which  great  and  good  men  delight  to  bestow 
upon  praiseworthy  objects.  I appeal,  therefore,  not  only  to  this  congress  for  their  aid 
as  a society,  but  to  its  individual  members,  to  help  with  their  influence,  to  “roll  this 
ball  along.”  There  is  work  for  all ; every  one  can  help. 


WHO  TS  TO  BE  BENEFITED. 

Before  specifying  the  steps  which  1 would  desire  this  congress  to  take  in  this  matter, 
it  may  help  the  cause  to  state  that  the  success  of  this  scheme  will  benefit  all  of  you 
more  than  it  will  its  projector.  I am  under  the  ban  of  the  nation,  and  ran  hold  no  office 
in  it — neither  State  nor  Federal.  The  moment  the  government  takes  hold  of  it,  my 
connection  with  it  ceases.  I cannot  share  in  the  honor  of  helping  to  organize,  or  of 
assisting  to  carry  out.  I have  no  farm,  neither  do  I cultivate  a parcel  of  ground. 
Therefore,  I say,  though  I advocate  this  measure  so  earnestly — devoting  to  it  time  that 
I can  ill  afford  to  spare — there  is  no  one  in  the  land  who  is  less  to  be  benefited  by  its 
success  than  I. 

Among  the  steps  to  be  taken  I urge  this  congress : 

(1.)  To  memorialize  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  in  favor  of  the  measure. 

(2.)  To  issue  an  address  to  all  the  agricultural  societies,  clubs,  and  associations  of 
the  country,  State,  and  county,  in  furtherance  of  the  plan,  inviting  their  co  operation, 
and  requesting  them  to  memorialize  the  United  States  Congress ; also,  to  use  their  in- 
fluence with  their  representatives  there  in  favor  of  it. 

(3.)  A resolution  directing  the  appointment  of  at  least  one  delegate  from  each  State 
here  represented,  with  the  request  and  authority  to  petition  in  the  name  of  this  Con- 
gress the  Governor  and  Legislature  of  his  State *to  lend  the  move  their  good  offices,  and 
to  instruct  their  Senators  and  request  their  Representatives  in  Congress  to  support  it. 

(4.)  That  the  agricultural  journals  and  the  press  of  the  country  be  requested  in  the 
name  of  this  association  to  give  the  plan  such  support  in  their  columns  as  in  their 
j udgment  its  merits  entitles  it  to  receive. 

(5.)  A.  resolution  requesting  the  president  of  this  congress  to  forward  a copy  of  its 
proceedings  in  relation  to  this  subject  to  the  various  agricultural,  meteorological,  and 
other  scientific  and  industrial  societies  at  home  and  abroad,  asking  their  friendly  consid- 
eration of  the  matter,  and  their  co-operation  in  the  move. 

(6.)  That  the  members  of  this  congress  pledge  themselves,  on  their  return  to  their 
constituents,  to  exert  each  his  influence  among  them,  and  with  liis  representative  in  the 
United  States  Congress,  in  pressing  this  subject  for  public  attention  and*  Congressional 
action. 

WHY  A CONFERENCE  IS  REQUIRED. 

In  urging  a pan-national  conference  to  discuss  and  set  on  foot  a systematic  plan  of 
observations  and  reports,  I may  not — because  such  instrumentality  is,  to  my  mind,  so  very 
indispensable — have  satisfied  gentlemen  as  to  its  necessity.  We  want  to  observe  the 
whole  atmosphere,  and  to  note  the  staple  crops  in  all  countries.  It  will  not  do,  therefore, 
for  any  one  nation  to  say  to  all  the  rest,  “ Here  is  my  plan  ; adopt  it.” 

Each  nation  is  already  carrying  on  its  own  plan  of  weather  observations,  and  every 
one  of  these  plans  differs,  more  or  less,  from  the  rest. 

We  want  a conference  consisting  of  wise  men  from  each  nation,  to  harmonize  these 
plans,  and  to  bring  them  into  one. 

Almost  all  the  governments  of  Europe  deal  more  or  less  with  agricultural  statistics, 
but  the  data  as  now  observed  and  collected  in  one  country  cannot  be  readily  compared 
with  the  data  of  another  country,  simply  because  of  the  difference  in  the  manner  and  mode 
of  treating  them  ; neither  are  they  always  accessible. 

The  members  of  the  conference,  taking  counsel  together,  will  be  able  to  see  exactly 
what  each  government  is  doing;  and  how,  using  the  machinery  already  existing,  they 
may  devise  a common  plan  that  will  involve  the  least  change,  the  least  loss,  and  the  least 
additional  expense,  while  at  the  same  time  it  promises  the  greatest  good ! Hence  the 
necessity  of  a conference. 

To  give  a practical  illustration  of  that  necessity,  the  meteorologists  may  desire  to 
change  the  present  plan  of  observation,  so  as  to  have  at  least  a portion  of  them  to  be 
made  synchronously  all  over  the  world.  For  instance,  the  French  may  say,  let  it  be 
established  that  when  the  hands  of  the  clock  in  the  Paris  observatory  point  to  12  Om.  Os. 
— at  that  instant,  let  the  meteorological  observers  in  all  parts  of  the  world  note  their 
instruments,  and  record  the  state  of  the  weather  as  it  is  with  them — and  so,  as  often  during 
the  twenty-four  hours  as  the  conference  shall  deem  it  best  to  have  observations  made. 
The  English  may,  with  equal  propriety,  say  the  same  for  their  capital.  The  Americans 
for  theirs, and  the  Japanese  and  all  other  people  for  theirs.  That  matter  must  be  adjusted 
as  preliminary  to  any  general  system.  Whether  the  conference  will  recommend  synchro- 
nous observations  I do  not  pretend  to  say ; but  I do  mean  to  say  that  in  the  further  prose- 
cution of  our  meteorological  researches  it  is  very  desirable  to  have — at  stated' periods,  if 
not  for  all  the  year — synchronous  observations  ail  over  the  world,  and  such  that  will  show 
us  the  state  of  the  atmosphere  as  it  is  at  given  moments  — not  as  it  was  at  uncertain 
times. 

Then  again,  in  those  parts  of  the  world,  as  in  Central  Asia,  in  Africa,  and  the  islands, 
where  native  co-operation  may  not  be  practicable,  and  where  some  one  or  more  of  the 
States  in  conference  may  have  consuls  or  agents,  or  where  there  may  be  missionaries  or 


6 


merchants,  a plan  for  securing  their  co-operation  and  furnishing  them  with  proper  instru- 
ments has  to  be  devised,  and  an  understanding  come  to  as  to  the  disposition  to  be  made  of 
their  observations,  with  the  view  to  their  final  discussion. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the  bearing  of  the  laws  of  meteorology  upon  agriculture 
has  never  yet  formed  the  subject  of  any  well-directed  effort  among  nations,  or  even  by  in- 
dividuals on  a scale  sufficiently  comprehensive  to  develop  practical  results. 

Any  sailor  can  tell  you  what  a systematic  plan  of  observations  at  sea  has  done  for 
navigation  ; and  how  the  resulting  knowledge  as  to  the  winds  and  currents  of  the  ocean 
has  shortened  voyages,  brought  remote  parts  of  the  world  in  close  proximity,  lessened 
the  dangers  of  the  sea,  and  benefited  commerce.  But  where  is  the  farmer  that  can  tell 
what  meteorology,  as  a science,  has  done  to  agriculture?  All  he  knows  concerning  the 
operation  of  meteorological  laws  upon  his  crops  is  derived  chiefly  from  tradition  and  his 
own  observations.  Small  indeed  is  the  mite  from  systematic  research  and  philosophical 
deduction  that  has  been  vouchsafed  to  him. 

What,  then,  may  we  not  expect  when  we  come  to  dot  the  world  with  observers,  all 
equipped  with  standard  instruments,  watching  the  weather,  noting  its  signs,  all  at  the 
same  time,  after  the  same  plan,  with  an  eye  to  its  bearing,  not  only  upon  agriculture, 
but  upon  health,  disease,  malaria,  &c.,  and  then  sending  their  observations  for  discussion 
to  the  most  eminent  philosophers  in  th^ various  countries  of  the  world? 

These  and  such  like  subjects  must  come  before  the  conference  for  arrangement,  and 
they  must  be  there  definitely  settled  in  a manner  agreeable  to  all  parties,  for  without 
such  preliminary  settlement  the  different  nations  cannot  be  expected  to  “ pull  together.” 

COST. 

Each  of  the  co-operating  parties  will  bear  the  cost  only  of  its  own  observations  and 
reports.  And  I suppose  this  will  not  be  much  in  addition  to  their  present  independent  and 
less  efficient  plans.  Therefore,  I can  submit  no  estimate  for  other  countries,  nor  would  I 
take  up  your  time  with  them  if  I could.  I would  be  glad  to  give  them  to  you  for  this 
country,  but  here  I lack  the  requisite  data  also.  I may  repeat  what  has  been  already  in- 
timated ; that  with  a proper  use  of  the  means  and  appliances  already  at  hand,  and  such 
as  are  to  be  found  in  your  agricultural  bureau  in  Washington  and  the  meteorological 
stations  and  establishments  under  government  control,  the  additional  cost  in  proportion 
to  the  good  to  come,  will  not  weigh  as  a straw  in  the  balance. 

But,  gentlemen,  much  or  little  is  not  the  question  so  far  as  this  country  is  concerned 
— its  agricultural  interest  requires  whatever  may  be  necessary  for  its  proper  encourage- 
ment, and  you,  the  advocates,  champions,  and  representatives  of  that  interest,  have  on 
your  side,  right,  justice,  and  the  good  of  the  commonwealth.  Stand  up,  therefore,  before 
the  government,  in  your  might  and  demand  it. 

As  to  the  expenses  of  the  gentlemen  to  attend  the  conference,  that  is  too  small  to  talk 
about.  Here,  again,  the  Brussels  conference  is  a lamp  to  our  feet.  With  no  other  cost 
than  my  travelling  expenses  to  Europe  and  back,  nations  were  drawn  into  co-operation, 
plans  were  arranged,  two-thirds  of  the  earth’s  surface  was  occupied,  and  every  man-of-war 
and  merchantman  that  sails  upon  the  high  seas  was  converted  into  a physical  observa- 
tory, the  master  and  mates  of  each  being  ready  to  make  observations,  day  and  night, 
according  to  a uniform  plan,  and  in  all  parts  of  the  navigable  ocean.  The  obvious  benefits 
of  that  system  of  research  and  the  moral  influence  of  that  conference  enlisted  this  co- 
operation and  made  it  voluntary.  I think  there  is  as  much  public  spirit  among  farmers  as 
among  sailors  ; and  that  this  plan,  rightly  managed,  would  be  proportionably  inexpensive. 
But,  cost  what  it  may,  the  agricultural  interest  of  the  country  is,  as  I shall  show,  entitled 
to  the  expenditure,  and  when  it  gets  the  annual  appropriation  required  for  this  measure  it 
will  not  have  received  anything  like  its  fair  share  of  public  favor,  in  proportion  to  the 
encouragement  given  by  the  government  to  commercial  and  other  interests. 

In  the  first  place,  there  is  already  established  a system  of  meteorological  observa- 
tions, a signal  office,  and  an  agricultural  bureau.  This  is  so  much  machinery  toward 
this  system,  which  it  may  be  safely  assumed  would  not,  if  geared  on  to  it,  entail  an  addi- 
tional expense  greater  than  that  already  required  for  the  support  of  these  establishments 
as  they  are,  and  would  add  to  their  efficiency. 

Mississippi,  acting  for  herself  under  this  proposition,  has  organized  a system  of  crop 
reports.  It  is  made  the  duty  of  the  president  of  every  county  board  of  supervisors  to 
submit  reports  regularly  on  the  28th  day  of  each  month,  to  the  central  office — that  of  the 
agricultural  journal,  the  Field  and  Factory,  of  Jackson.  The  editors  of  that  journal  are 
required  to  secure  the  additional  co  operation  of  at  least  five  intelligent  farmers  in  each 
county,  and  to  publish  results  monthly.  The  total  cost  of  all  this,  including  the  gratui- 
tous circulation  of  1,500  copies  of  the  monthly  report,  is  $3,000.  There  are  no  meteoro- 
logical researches  connected  with  the  Mississippi  system  ; but  I think  it  shows  that  the 
plan  I advocated  does  not  involve  the  gigantic  expenditure  that  some  have  seemed  to 
think  it  would.  Tennessee  has  also  established  her  bureau  of  crop  reports  with  a like 
appropriation. 


1 


AGRICULTURE  ENTITLED  TO  A FAIR  SHARE  OF  ENCOURAGEMENT. 

But.  to  show  what  strong  grounds  this  association  has  for  pressing  this  scheme  upon 
the  government  and  the  public,  let  us  mention  a few  facts,  leaving  it  to  them  to  speak 
for  us. 

I am  moved  to  bring  these  eloquent  mutes  into  this  presence  simply  in  justice  to  the 
cause  I plead,  and  not  for  the  sake  of  anythiug  like  invidious  comparison  or  disparage- 
ment. Therefore,  without  implying  that  other  interests  are  protected  too  much  or  too 
little,  let  us  inquire  what  they  get  from  the  government,  that  we  may  see  whether  agri- 
culture gets  its  fair  share. 

Agriculture  is  taxed  directly  for  the  benefit  of  them  all,  for  as  agriculture  is  the 
main  stay  and  prop  of  the  country,  all  the  other  interests  that  receive  support  from  tile 
government  derive  that  support,  first  or  last,  from  agriculture  ; and  the  most  the  govern- 
ment has  done  for  agriculture  may  be  seen  in  the  Agricultural  Bureau  and  the  land  grants 
for  teaching  agriculture  and  the  mechanical  arts. 

WHAT  IS  DONE  FOR  COMMERCE. 

First,  there  is  the  expense  of  surveying  and  lighting  the  coasts ; of  supporting  the 
consular  system  ; the  expense  of  maintaining  fleets  and  squadrons  in  all  quarters  of  the 
globe  in  times  of  peace.  Heavy  items  these;  and  now  there  is,  or  was,  a bill  before 
Congress  for  encouraging — by  bounties  and  special  legislation — ship-building  ; all  of  which 
involves  a public  expenditure  of  some  $20,000,000  or  $30,000,000  a year.  And  yet  the 
wealth  that  the  nation  gains  from  commerce  is  not  a tithe  of  that  which  agriculture  gives 
it  annually.  The  difference  in  value  of  what  is  sent  out  and  what  is  brought  back  into 
the  country  is  the  wealth  that  commerce  gives.  What  agriculture  gives  is  the  market 
value  of  her  yearly  crops,  estimated  at  $2,000,000,000  lor  last  year. 

Then  there  are  the  fishing  bounties.  The  annual  appropriation  for  them  would  be 
more  than  sufficient  to  put  and  keep  in  operation  this  plan  of  research.  Besides  all  this, 
there  is  the  signal  office,  which  was  established  entirely  in  the  interest  of  commerce.  It 
aims  to  predict  storms,  and  hoists  its  storm-signals  in  the  shipping  ports  and  marts  of 
commerce,  but  not  in  the  inland  towns  and  agricultural  centres. 

Moreover,  a.  bill  is  now,  or  was,  pending  before  Congress  calling  for  $200,000  for 
carrying  a submarine  cable  300  miles  out  to  sea,  to  a steamer  there  to  be  anchored,  to 
serve  as  a storm-sliip  in  connection  with  this  bureau.  The  steamer  will  cost  quite  as 
much  as  the  cable.  Should  this  experiment  prove  satisfactory,  the  plan  is  to  curtain  the 
coast  with  like  meteorological  outposts.  All  this  for  commerce  and  navigation. 

Surely  our  requests  are  moderate,  and  the  more  so  as  we  seek  to  utilize  all  this 
machinery  for  the  farmer,  and  aim  to  bring  this  bureau  into  the  service,  also,  of  agricul- 
ture and  other  interests  on  the  land;  and,  without  interfering  with  its  present  duties,  to 
make  it  as  useful  to  the  farmer  as  it  is  to  the  sailor,  and  to  enlarge  its  powers  for  good  to 
both.  (Congress  has  since  so  ordered.) 

The  signal  office  or  bureau  was  got  up  last  year  with  an  appropriation  of  $25,000, 
especially  for  the  benefit  of  lake  meteorology  and  navigation  ; and  to  carry  it  on  for 
another  year  an  appropriation  of  ten  times  that  amount  is  asked  for  and  recommended  bv 
the  committee  in  Congress.  Instruct  your  Representative  there  to  adopt  this  plan  ; to  go 
for  an  act  making  that,  establishment  and  the  agricultural  bureau  co-operative  offices  ; 
and  then  this  appropriation  will  have  a double  value,  and  be  made  as  beneficial  to  agri- 
culture as  to  commerce  ; and  its  telegraphic  outposts  on  the  Atlantic  will  watch  in  the 
interests  of  the  farmer  a's  well  as  the  sailor. 

PROBABLE  RESULTS. 

I estimate  the  benefits  to  be  conferred  upon  agriculture  alone,  by  this  comprehensive 
system  of  research,  to  be  worth  annually  to  the  country  quite  as  much  as  all  the  gains  of 
commerce.  It  is  also  bountiful  with  promise  of  good  to  all  industrial  pursuits,  whatever 
their  nature.  It  bids  fair  to  afford  data — if  scientists  have  the  faculty  of  successful  dis- 
cussion— for  forecasting  the  weather,  and  predicting  for  considerable  periods  in  advance 
those  general  changes  in  it  which  most  concern  the  husbandman.  With  the  means  and 
appliances  which  discovery  and  improvement  have  placed  at  the  command  of  nations, 
success  with  such  predictions  seems  more  than  probable. 

I ask  any  farmer  to  tell  me,  if  he  can,  what  such  success — though  achieved  only  a 
few  times  during  the  year — would  be  worth  to  him  ? It  may  be  worth  tens,  or  hundreds, 
or  thousands  of  dollars,  according  to  circumstances.  We  cannot  say.  But  we  can  say 
that,  in  the  aggregate,  and  for  the  whole  country,  only  a few  days  foreknowledge  of  the 
weather,  at  particular  stages  of  the  crops,  would  be  worth  millions.  I do  not  pretend  to 
pledge  this  congress  or  myself  for  such  results  ; it  would  be  like  pledging  the  child  for 
the  man ; but  I regard  them  not  only  as  not  improbable,  but  such  as  auy  meteorologist 
might  reasonably  expect  to  flow  from  such  a comprehensive  system  of  research,  wisely 
organized  and  properly  conducted. 

Then  the  benefits  that  are  to  ensue,  both  to  producer  and  consumer,  by  placing  them 
on  a footing  with  the  middlemen,  as  to  the  state  of  the  crops  any  month  of  the  year,  and 


8 


all  over  tlie  world.  Why,  gentlemen,  I tell  you  there  are  margins  here  on  your  side  for 
saving  and  gaining  such  as  no  plan  of  physical  and  statistical  research  ever  compre- 
hended. Will  you  press  it  upon  Congress  ? You,  that  represent  the  agricultural  interests, 
and  are  the  farmers  of  the  country,  have  but  to  speak  the  word,  and,  so  far  as  this  people 
is  concerned,  it  is  done. 


RESOLUTIONS  ON  THE  ADDRESS. 

The  order  of  business  was  laid  aside  for  a moment,  to  receive  the  report  of  the  com- 
mittee on  the  address  of  Com.  Maury. 

The  report  w^as  presented  by  Gren.  Jackson,  of  Tennessee,  who  stated  that  it  was  in 
the  shape  of  a series  of  resolutions  which  the  committee  deemed  advisable  to  offer,  looking 
to  a furtherance  of  the  plan,  devising  means,  as  it  were,  for  carrying  this  plan  into 
effect.  It  is  as  follows  : 

(1.)  Resolved , That  the  attention  of  the  general  government  be  and  is  hereby  respect- 
fully invited  to  this  subject  as  one  of  national  magnitude,  and  that  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States  be  and  is  hereby  most  earnestly  requested,  in  the  name  of  the  association, 
and  in  behalf  of  the  yeomen  of  the  country,  to  adopt  such  measures  as  in  their  wisdom 
they  may  deem  best  calculated  to  secure  the  meeting  in  general  conference  at  an  early  day 
of  one  or  more  leading  agricultural  and  leading  scientists  from  each  country  in  the 
family  of  nations,  the  object  of  such  meeting  being  to  perfect  the  arrangements  proper 
and  necessary  for  carrying  oiit  the  plan  proposed  by  Com.  Maury  for  an  international 
and  general  system  of  crop  reports  and  meteorological  research,  and  that  copies  of  his 
address  and  this  resolution,  with  the  proceedings  under  them,  be  sent  by  the  President  of 
this  Association  to  the  President  of  the  United  States  Senate,  and  to  the  Speaker  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  with  the  request  that  the  same  be  laid  before  their  respective 
houses  for  action,  and  that  copies  also  be  sent  to  the  President  of  the  United  States  and  t^ 
the  Secretary  of  State  and  of  the  Interior,  requesting  them  to  encourage  and  promote  the 
measure  by  their  official  action. 

Whereas,  A combined  system  of  weather  and  crop  reports,  if  inaugurated  and 
carried  out  in  Hie  manner  proposed  in  the  address  which  we  have  just  heard,  would,  in 
the  opinion  of  this  association,  tend  greatly  to  benefit  the  industrial  pursuits  of  this  coun- 
try, commercial  and  manufacturing  as  well  as  agricultural,  and  would  also  increase  the 
prosperity  of  this  nation  and  add  to  its  glory  and  renown. 

Whereas,  The  agricultural  interest  is  the  chief  interest  to  be  subserved  by  the 
measure,  and  the  farmers  have  influence  enough,  if  they  exert  it,  upon  their  members  of 
Congress  to  carry  it ; therefore  be  it 

(2.)  Resolved,  That  the  president  of  this  congress  is  hereby  authorized  and  requested  to 
raise  a committee  for  each  individual  State  in  the  Union,  to  consist  of  one  member  from 
each  State,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  exert  himself,  each  in  its  own  State,  in  favor  of  Com. 
Maury’s  plan  by  correspondence,  by  circulating  their  proceedings,  and  by  petitions  and 
memorials  to  the  legislatures  of  such  States  in  favor  of  such  resolutions,  and  instructing 
their  Senators  and  requesting  their  Representatives  in  Congress  to  procure  the  necessary 
legislation  for  a joint  system  of  agricultural  and  meteorological  observations  and  reports. 

(3.)  Resolved,  That  this  congress  hereby  appeal  to  every  society,  club,  and  association, 
agricultural  or  mechanical,  in  behalf  of  this  great  move.  We  recommend  it  to  their 
favorable  consideration.  We  earnestly  solicit  their  active  co-operation, and  invite  them  to 
use  their  friendly  influences  in  furtherance  of  the  measure,  by  sending  memorials  and 
petitions  to  Congress,  and  in  such  other  modes  as  to  them  may  seem  good. 

(4.)  Resolved,  That  the  agricultural  journals  of  the  country,  and  all  newspapers  friendly 
to  the  advancement  of  science  or  the  encouragement  of  agriculture,  be  requested  to  take 
note  of  these  proceedings,  and  to  give  them  such  a second  as  the  importance  of  the  object 
they  have  in  view  may  seem  to  deserve. 

(5.)  Resolved , That  the  President  of  this  Congress  cause  copies  of  Com.  Maury’s  address, 
and  of  the  proceedings  under  it,  to  be  sent  to  the  various  agricultural,  meteorological,  and 
other  scientific  and  industrial  societies  in  the  various  countries  of  the  world,  asking  their 
consideration  of  the  same  and  inviting  their  co-operation  in  furtherance  of  the  object  in 
view. 

(6.)  Resolved,  That  the  President  forward  a copy  of  these  proceedings,  and  of  Com. 
Maury’s  address,  to  the  Statistical  Congress  to  assemble  next  August  in  St.  Petersburg, 
Russia,  with  a communication  stating  the  object  and  aims  of  this  congress,  tendering  its 
good  will  and  friendly  offices,  and  inviting  reciprocal  co-operation  in  matters  that  may  be 
common  between  them. 

(7.)  Resolved,  That  20,000  copies  of  Com.  Maury’s  address,  and  the  proceedings  under 
it,  be  printed  for  gratuitous  circulation,  and  that  a committee  of  three  be  appointed  to 
raise  the  funds  necessary  for  printing  and  circula.ing  the  same,  and  the  following-named 
gentlemen  are  suggested  : Arthur  B.  Barrett,  Lee  R.  Shyrock,  and  J.  S.  Marmaduke,  ot 
St.  Louis. 


FRESH,  BEAUTIFUL  AND  CHEAP  TEXT-BOOKS. 


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Has  been  received  with  such  marked  favor  by  the  prominent  teachers  and  school  officers  of  the  several 
States,  and  the  adoption  and  introduction  of  the  books  in  the  best  public  and  private  schools  of  the 
country  has  been  so  rapid  and  general,  that  other  testimony  to  their  superiority  is  hardly  necessary.  The 
books  are  their  own  best  commendation. 

Teachers  seeking  the  Best  Books  will  find  it  to  their  interest  to  examine  these  volumes. 

* 

THE  u UNIVERSITY  SERIES  ” EMBRACES 

Maury's  Geographical  Series. 

By  M.  F.  Maury,  LL.D.,  late  Superintendent  of  the  National  Observatory  at  Washington,  D.  C. ; Author 
of  the  “Physical  Geography  of  the  Sea,”  etc. 

Maury's  First  Lessons  in  Geography, 

“ The  World  We  Live  In, 

“ Manual  of  Geography, 

A series  of  books  which  mark  an  era  in  the  study  of  this  science,  and  which,  in  the  words  of  a well 
known  and  accomplished  teacher,  “are  characterized  by  a felicity  of  arrangement  and  simple  freshness  of 
style  which  must  ever  render  them  attractive  to  the  young,  and  which  will  be  used  by  all  who  wish  to 
teach  geography  as  a science,  as  something  to  make  pupils  think,  and  not  merely  as  an  enumeration  of 
dry  facts.” 

Holmes'  Readers  and  Spellers. 

By  Georue  P.  Holmes,  LL.D.,  Professor  of  History  and  General  Literature  in  the  University  of  Virginia. 


Maury's  Physical  Geography , 
“ Wall  Maps. 


Holmes'  Fourth  Reader, 

1 1 Fifth  Reader, 

“ Sixth  Reader, 

u School  Speaker.  (In  preparation. 


Holmes'  Primer, 

1 i Elementary  Speller, 

‘ ‘ First  Reader, 

“ Second  Reader, 

“ Thir.d  Reader, 

A series  of  readers  unequalled  in  cheapness,  excellence  and  typographical  beauty.  They  are  steadily 
progressive  in  chai'acter,  and  bright  and  fresh  in  their  selections  of  prose  and  verse. 

Venable's  Arithmetical  Series. 


By  Charles  S.  Venable,  LL.D.,  Professor  of  Mathematics  in  the  University  of  Virginia. 


Venable's  First  Lesson  in  Numbers, 
“ Intermediate  Arithmetic, 

“ Practical  Arithmetic, 

‘ 1 Mental  A rithmetic , 


Venable's  Ele?nentary  Algebra, 

‘ 1 High  er  A Igebra , (In  p rep  aration . ) 

“ ~ Analytical  Geometry  “ 

“ Legendre's  Geometry  “ 


These  books  are  received  everywhere  by  intelligent  teachei-s  with  the  highest  satisfaction,  as  being 
most  admirably  adapted  for  mental  drill,  as  well  as  for  business  education.  Their  methods,  rules,  anc 
reasonings  are  clear,  distinct,  logical,  and  comprehensive,  and  the  series  is  carefully  graded  throughout. 

Also, 


De  Vere's  French  Grammar,  Readers,  etc. 

Gildersleeve's  Latin  Series, 

Carter's  Elements  of  General  History, 

Holmes'  English  Grammar, 

“ History  of  the  United  States, 

Send  for  our  new  Illustrated  Descriptive  Catalogue,  which  will  be  mailed  free  to  any  teacher  or 
school-officer.  Tells  what  teachers  think  of  the  books,  and  contains  specimen  pages  of  each.  Liberal 
terms  for  examination  or  introduction. 


Le  Conte's  Scientific  Series, 
Johnston's  English  Literature, 
Duntonian  Writing  Books, 
Fairbanks'  Business  Arithmetic. 


Address, 


UNIVERSITY  PUBLISHING  COMPANY, 

155  and  157  Crosby  Street,  New  York. 


